Rachel Reeves has begun the process to appoint a Covid corruption commissioner.
The chancellor confirmed yesterday she has kicked off recruitment for the role “to get back what is owed to the British people”.
Reeves told the House of Commons during a King’s Speech debate yesterday that she “will not tolerate waste”, will “treat taxpayers’ money with respect” and will “return stability to our public finances”.
The chancellor first announced Labour’s plan to appoint a Covid corruption tsar to recoup billions of pounds lost to Covid fraud in October, while she was shadow chancellor.
She confirmed yesterday that the commissioner will work with the health secretary, Wes Streeting, and report to Reeves.
They will also work with HM Revenue and Customs, the National Crime Agency and the Serious Fraud Office to investigate the loss of more than £7bn of fraud from Covid support schemes such as the Small Business Grant Fund, furlough and "Eat out to help out", according to the Guardian.
Reeves said ex-prime minister, now leader of the opposition, Rishi Sunak had "signed cheque after cheque after cheque for billions of pounds’ worth of contracts" when he was chancellor "that did not deliver for the NHS when it needed it". This was “unacceptable”, she said.
A report developed by the commissioner will be presented in parliament, she added.
When announcing the plan for a Covid corruption tsar in October, Reeves said the commissioner would be supported by a “hit squad of investigators, equipped with the powers they need and the mandate to do whatever it takes to chase down those who have ripped off the taxpayer, take them to court, and claw back every penny… that they can”.
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee said in a report published in September that as of May 2023, only £20.9m had been recovered out of £1.1bn in small-business support loans suspected to have been illegitimately obtained, which is 2%. The same month, DBT said the amount regained had reached £32.6m.